The final version of the EN ISO 9806 was approved in the middle of September. This is an important milestone for the solar thermal industry, because it marks the first time that there will be a modern global standard for collector testing procedures which different countries can refer to. In addition, the new standard includes testing methodology for a number of new solar thermal technologies, such as solar air heating, concentrating medium-temperature and PVT collectors. The approval of the EN ISO 9806, however, is only half of the story. The norm is voluntary and needs a national or regional labelling and certification schemes to gain product-related references. The latest news from Latin America show that a regional labelling scheme which limits product sizes or changes boundary conditions may run the risk of contradicting the original referenced international standard. The photo shows an expert workshop organised by the Pan American Standards Commission, COPANT, in Brazil in August 2013.

Vermos, VK Technik and Láf Nerez are all former Czech producers or assemblers of solar thermal collectors which started in the 90s and closed down their business over the last three years. In 2008, there were twelve collector manufacturers in the Eastern European country. Seven have disappeared in the meantime or are planning to do so over the coming months, such as Solarplus and Svoboda. Most of the collector manufacturers blame the worsening situation on the new national incentive programme Nová Zelená Úsporám.

Brazilian system supplier Sol Tecnologia has installed the first 80 pole-mounted solar water heaters since the beginning of October. COPEL, the local utility of the state of Paraná, commissioned altogether 2,300 solar water heaters to be installed in low-income houses across the state, in order to fulfil its energy efficiency quota. The metal pole support structure accounts for 26% of the total system costs including installation, but was, in fact, the most cost-effective solution, since many times the roof structure cannot support the weight of the storage tank.

On 11 October, around 100 solar thermal specialists followed the invitation of the French Environment and Energy Management Agency, ADEME, to Paris, France, in order to discuss the unsatisfying situation of the French solar heating and cooling market. The meeting included a presentation of the results of the recently finalised study “Analysis of the competitiveness and development of the solar thermal sector in France”. An action plan is intended to show the industry how to become more competitive.

French company Viessmann Faulquemont, a subsidiary of the German Viessmann Group, has bought up the assets of French company Sophia Antipolis Energie Developpment (SAED), which was put under turnaround after being declared insolvent in April 2013. Viessmann was one of several investors submitting an offer to the court in April. The photo shows the special SAED heat pipe collector for large fields with a dry connection which consists of a one-piece aluminium sheet wrapped around the thicker manifold.

Under the title "Solar Heating and Cooling: Energy for a Secure Future", the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) has published a 36-page road map for solar heating and cooling in the USA. The road map aims to increase solar heating and cooling capacity in the US from 9 GWth today to 300 GWth by 2050 (both figures including pool heating). “It’s an ambitious goal, but it’s doable,” SEIA President and CEO Rhone Resch says in a comment on SEIA’s web page.